A ROOM OF OUR OWN
Follette, Isabel B. La
A Room Of Our Own By Isabel B. La Follette PHIL KEEPS emphasizing the enormous distances in the South Pacific, and those of us with men in that area are constantly on the look-out for crumbs of...
...Happened to figure up last night that I traveled last year the equivalent to around the world...
...Autumn's Burning Leaves "Wonder how in the name of heaven you can get Bob into any of my clothes...
...If you'll remember the views we got in Panama you'll have something of an idea of the place, though as I told you before there are the enormous mountains," too, that •we saw in Costa Rica and Guatemala...
...In lots of ways Bob (our boy) would get much more of a kick out of this sort of life than I do—the animals, aguinas (look like tiny alligators or chameleons running around the tents), strange little and large centipedes, and various other varieties which would delight Bob's naturalist leanings...
...The ultimate test of democracy is the willingness of its citizens to accept the difficult and unpleasant tasks along with the privileges that go with life in that democracy...
...In this part of the world the seasons are turned around, and Spring begins on the 21st...
...But maybe you've been able to 'let them out,' All of which makes me remember how glad I was when I got taller than Bob, Jr., and the day was over when I had to wear his 'hand-me-downs,' and I could wear new 'store clothes.' "Every once in a while I'll write the date and it will strike a responsive chord: so today it is hard to realize that Fall has begun at home, that the kids are back in school, and that before long you'll be having Indian Summer, with the smell of burning leaves in the air...
...I have been out on several trips in hot, dusty weather and today has been really hot...
...It is raining tonight, not hard, just a slow even rain, and you know what that means in the tropics...
...I welcome the change a lot...
...While this is 'Winter' time things are moist and it is hard to keep our things dry...
...I've been getting into the sun, sweating and hustling about, and the best food (American style) I've had for months with lots of fresh vegetables (you'd be surprised at how I eat vegetables—most everything now except beets and cauliflower—haven't got up to them yet...
...When anyone talks of 'wastage of abilities' he is talking about war—the millions upon millions of man-hours spent in waiting, waiting, waiting...
...A remarkable job has been done in malarial control and in other sanitary improvements...
...Anyhow, the thing-objects to in my individual case can be multiplied by at least four-fifths of those in service...
...If our side is to 'git there fustest with the mostest men' then at the vital time we must have that superiority in numbers, and that superiority comes only by keeping hundreds of thousands of men waiting, waiting for that important and vital moment...
...It certainly is strange how we revise our standards—just the way you have had to at home...
...I am still trying to figure out what would give you the best picture of how I'm living...
...A Room Of Our Own By Isabel B. La Follette PHIL KEEPS emphasizing the enormous distances in the South Pacific, and those of us with men in that area are constantly on the look-out for crumbs of information which may give us some hint as to where, among the thousands of spots, our husbands or sons may be stationed...
...But now a breeze has sprung up...
...A Special Treat' "The whole psychology of war is* wasteful...
...And they do it in the same spirit they would any other disagreeable 'chore,' and that is what it is exactly, a disagreeable, sometimes frightful chore...
...I don't think I would get used to the change (in terms of the calendar) if I lived in this area the rest of my life...
...The distances out here certainly are tremendous, and yet it is only five to seven days by air to Madison...
...Not much, but up here in this hot and distant point I can tell you that is a luxury to be appreciated...
...One cannot expect them suddenly to acquire a business and financial judgment that comes with long experience...
...And the really extraordinary thing is how these American farm and city boys, who really don't like war or any of its phases, have turned-to to do a job...
...And the improvements that have taken place in the nine months since I was here before are considerable...
...Things we took for granted are now highly appreciated...
...Whatever else one may think, Americans certainly have a capacity for getting things done, and generally getting them done correctly...
...What comes nearest to it within our common experience, I think, so far as climate and physical surroundings are concerned, is the stay we made at Cape Haitian...
...The weather is very much like Panama—quite hot and moist...
...They could all (at least the four-fifths) be doing more productive work .where their creative gifts would be of more social worth, but they aren't in the Army or Navy for that purpose...
...Believe it or not, but a friend of mine went calling the other day at the hospital, and he and his doctor friend had something extra special: cold ice water to drink...
...in a short while I'll have a nice cool shower, then perhaps half an hour's rest and then ready for evening chow...
...And perhaps if they had it we would lose the war because they would »be thinking about expense instead of winning battles...
...Also in certain ways it means more responsibility, but less trying details...
...In the afternoon and evening there is a fresh breeze, and for the most part it is very comfortable for sleeping...
...It will mean a much healthier physical existence...
...Men who in civilian life had little or no experience in handling property are suddenly lifted to heights where they can order expenditures of millions and millions...
...I am fortunate for a few moments this morning to have access to a typewriter and so can pound out a few lines that you may be able to read...
...Also he would get a kick out of the constant drone of planes and other indications of our participation in the war, not the war the newspapers talk about in the States, but the war that means so much and so little in the lives of countless human beings...
...The Test Of Democracy "We have begun to get settled a bit...
...Yet it is unavoidable...
...We are going to have a very special treat tonight: a cold supper with some of the stuff that made Milwaukee famous...
...Those of you who keep asking word of Phil will be interested in the following gleanings: "By the time you get this I shall have moved to another spot—the same place I was last Fall, and shall in due course see various Wisconsin friends whose wives you know...
...Long letter from-regarding my 'shortsightedness' in coming into the Army...
...Here's trusting that such will not be my lot...
...It is very hard for example to keep envelope flaps from sealing themselves automatically...
...Living conditions are very satisfactory although we are not settled yet...
...We have a conference on tonight (right now with work heavy we are doing lots of night work) so I shall welcome the old bunk...
...Would think that if he took one small breath he'd rip off every button...
Vol. 7 • October 1943 • No. 42
